[Console Edition] Satya Nadella: "We are going to make some difficult decisions"

I think if Intel can ever fully execute on their low-power processors, the endgame of a phone running Windows 10 that you can just drop into a dock to get a full desktop PC experience is a very compelling concept.

 

With the software on the phone, the dock could house the processor. As long as you have one executable, portability is ensured.

 

MS are already planning to (sort of) move into phone -> dock -> PC area this year.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2916...u-to-the-smartphone-pc-convergence-punch.html

I do think it's a compelling idea and another example of how it's too soon for MS to give up on phones.

 

They are already doing what you are proposing in the tab space with Sony, Samsung, LG, Dell and 27 other manufacturers already on board. In the smartphone space, certain models of the s6 and s6 edge currently come with MS apps preinstalled.

But that doesn't warrant shutting down their win phone division. They are selling around 30-40 million smartphones a year and depending on what happens during this next reporting period will probably pull in close to a billion in profit.

While Android and iOS can throw out figures such as billions and 100s of millions when talking about shipping devices, that doesn't mean that shipping out just 10s of millions of phones is an unworthy endeavor for MS.

 

Yeah that's definitely the endgame. We all saw how laptops got powerful enough to make desktops not needed anymore, and phones will obsolete laptops the same way with "dock laptops" that you slide your phone into and have a working laptop, or same with a desktop phone dock to have a working computer at your desk. Seems like it won't be that long before the phone is the only computing device most people need as it'll be able to serve as the brains for phone use, laptop use and desktop use. It's just the software holding things back, they need to make software that works both small screen, large screen, touch and mouse.

I'd heard about that but I think some of the phone carriers but the kibosh on Microsoft's plans by removing some of their pre-installed apps. Seems like Microsoft would have to go more all in to get the carriers to play ball. In any case was just a thought.

 

Oh, I expect that's as much a deed of necessity as it is the goodness of their hearts. If Windows Phone starts getting serious traction (enough to genuinely interest third parties again), I expect MS would have to take a long hard look at what kind of mobile OS provider and/or phone manufacturer and/or service delivery system they desire to be.

 

Regarding the next Xbox, I wish MS would let the Surface team have a go at making a premium device. Especially if they actually deliver on their "buy once, play anywhere" vision. That would be sweet because I'm planning to get a Surface device one if these years anyway.

 

If you want to bring this into a Windows Phone VS Android VS iPhone I don't think the console forum is the correct venue.

I will say that as much as I am enjoying the integration of windows, MS will have to pull my Nexus out of my cold, dead hands in order to get it.

Google is just friggin awesome. For example, this morning my girlfriend sent me a text message and asked me "Where are you?". When I went to respond, it automatically came up with a text box that I could reply in - sure, but it also popped up another button I had never seen before that said "Share location". So I clicked on that, and instead of responding to her text via text, it sent her a google map GPS location of where I was.

How friggin cool is that?

I've never used a windows phone, but I've read reviews and whatnot and as much as I appreciate what MS has done in the PC realm and the Xbox realm, I'm still sticking with my android phone until they can prove there's a reason to switch.

 

I agree. They aren't getting rid of the Xbox One. That would make no sense at all coming off of a strong E3. I know Phil just did an interview talking about bringing games to PC, but he just said that he knows exclusives are the most important thing for the Xbox One at E3.

They just showed a new IP in Recore and Rare's Pirate game. They already gave us a glimpse at Gears 4. They even spent a lot of time and money to implement backwards compatibility.
They didn't do that just be cause they love their consumers. Also from what I heard it must have been difficult because it was thought impossible.

I firmly believe that the future of console gaming lies in streaming games to a generic PC in your living room, but we aren't there yet.

 

It is releasing on PC and Xbox One..

 

Yeah? Is it not a new IP? I didn't say it was exclusive.

 

Sorry, thought you meant that it was xone exclusive...

 

It is all good.

 

Looks like Xbox isn't going anywhere but will continually evolve, great stuff.

 

Not true with Windows 10 universal apps. It's one app package for all devices. But you'll have to customize the ui for devices it runs on, which isn't that much different from how things run on tablets and phones with different dimensions.

 

So what are the difficult decisions he's alluding to then?

 

The kind that comes with running a large company ?

 

Removing the Kinect compatibility from Xbox One pads.

 

I've used iPhone and android and I can't wait to jump ship and retry windows . I have anote 3 and performance is getting so slow at this point.

 

I wondered that myself. The piece consists almost entirely of intra-organizational pep-talk. But that "difficult decisions" on the other hand implies that cuts will be made. This is internal communication after all. Where will the axe fall?